Latest news with #JeffersonCountyCoroner'sOffice
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Birmingham streets to close for Steel City Smooth Jazz Festival
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Streets by Linn Park will be closed to vehicle traffic for the Steel City Smooth Jazz Festival. The music celebration is scheduled from Thursday through Sunday. According to the city, barricades will go up on Short 20th Street North in front of Birmingham City Hall around 5 p.m. Wednesday, causing the street to be closed to vehicles. The city asks for vehicles to not park on Park Place from Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard to 19th Street North on Thursday. Food trucks and vendors will start loading in on Thursday at 4 p.m. on Park Place. Jefferson County Coroner's Office searching for families of 3 men who recently died Crews will close Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard from the corner of 19th Street North to the corner of Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard to vehicle traffic at around 9 a.m. Friday. Fencing will be installed, but the sidewalk along Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard will remain open. Short 20th Street North in front of city hall will close to foot traffic at 2 p.m. Friday, while Park Place will stay open to pedestrians until 3 p.m. Friday. The parking deck adjacent to Boutwell Auditorium will be $30 for event parking starting at 1 p.m. Friday. Downtown street parking will be accessible when available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
1 killed in Jefferson County house fire
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — One person was killed in a Jefferson County house fire over the weekend. 'Duck Dynasty' star Phil Robertson, 79, dies The fire happened Sunday night on the 500 block of 7th Avenue SW in Graysville, according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. Graysville Fire Department was able to extinguish the blaze and discovered the remains of an unidentified person inside the house. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
31-year-old Birmingham man killed in shooting identified
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — A 31-year-old Birmingham man injured in a shooting Sunday night has died. Literrance Leon Bratton was shot while on the 2700 block of 30th Street Ensley shortly before midnight Sunday, the Jefferson County Coroner's Office reports. Bratton was taken to UAB Hospital for treatment where he was pronounced dead around 1:08 a.m. Monday. Los Angeles barbershop blasts 'Baby Shark' to ward off homeless Birmingham police are investigating Bratton's death as a homicide at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Deadline for students applying for Birmingham Promise scholarship nears
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The deadline for students looking to apply for Birmingham Promise scholarship funds is set for May 1. The program covers up to four years of tuition at public state colleges and universities for Birmingham City Schools graduates. The program has provided over $11 million in tuition assistance to more than 1,600 graduates since it's inception. Jefferson County Coroner's Office searching for family of 86-year-old woman who died in hospice care Prospective students must fill out a Birmingham Promise application and FASFA form to qualify. Scholarship funds can also be used for students wishing to complete a two-year community college or shorter programs. 'Completing the application keeps students' options open in case other assistance falls through, or they end up staying in state at a public college or university,' Samantha Williams, executive director of Birmingham Promise, said. 'We don't want anyone to miss out on the benefits of Birmingham Promise simply because they didn't meet the deadline to apply.' According to a release, graduating seniors should have received a link to apply to the program via their Outlook school account. Anyone needing assistance applying or has questions is asked to email scholarships@ or call 205-843-5967. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Yahoo
Family loses ‘acquired daughter' to Columbine shooting, 26 years later
Sue and Rick Townsend first met Anne Marie Hochhalter in March 2000 at a Bruce Springsteen benefit concert in Denver for Columbine High School shooting victims. Anne Marie used a wheelchair after being left partially paralyzed by two gunshot wounds in the April 20, 1999, attack, when two students opened fire at the school, killing 13 and wounding 23 before taking their own lives. The Townsends, whose 18-year-old daughter Lauren was killed in the shooting, introduced themselves to her at the event. 'We just saw her and went up and talked to her for a little bit,' Rick told CNN. 'She was very shy at the time.' That encounter would blossom into a lifelong bond. After retiring in May 2000, Sue began taking Anne Marie to physical therapy appointments, and afterward, they would go shopping or to the movies and enjoy lunch and ice cream together. Anne Marie — who had lost her mother to suicide six months after the Columbine massacre — began joining the Townsends for family dinners, holidays, vacations and birthdays. 'She became part of our family,' said Sue, who was Lauren's stepmother. The Townsends said they called authorities to do a welfare check on Anne Marie in February when she didn't respond to their texts or calls to confirm a weekend lunch date. That's when police found Anne Marie dead in her home in Westminster, Colorado. The 43-year-old died on February 16 from sepsis, with complications from her paralysis being a 'significant contributing factor' in her death, according to an autopsy by the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. 'The manner of death is best classified as homicide,' the autopsy report said. Anne Marie's death increased the Columbine shooting's death toll to 14. The loss has brought yet another heartbreak for the Townsend family, stemming from the mass shooting that devastated this suburban Denver community 26 years ago. Sue said that although she didn't see Anne Marie as a replacement for Lauren, their relationship helped her heal from the grief. 'She needed us, and we needed her, so it worked out,' Sue said. Anne Marie and Lauren did not know each other in high school. The family called Anne Marie their 'acquired daughter,' Sue said. 'We looked at her as a gift, kind of a bonus that came out of the tragedy of Columbine,' Sue said. 'We just enjoyed her.' Anne Marie suffered from chronic pain due to the gunshot wounds, Sue said. She underwent various surgeries and endured complications from using a wheelchair and taking medications for most of her life. Still, Anne Marie never allowed those challenges to stop her from living a full life, Sue said. Anne Marie graduated from college, drove a car, worked as an assistant manager at Bath & Body Works, volunteered at a golden retriever rescue shelter because she loved dogs, and became an advocate for people with spinal cord injuries and chronic pain, Sue said. Sue and Rick said Anne Marie accepted that she would likely never walk again and focused her energy on what her physical limitations would allow. 'She refused to be seen as a victim,' Sue said. 'She would say, 'I can do anything you can do, it just takes me longer.'' Sue said Anne Marie's complications had started to worsen in the years leading up to her death. She began expanding her online presence, connecting with people through social media groups who were suffering from similar health issues, Sue said. Late last year, Anne Marie developed a pressure ulcer, a common skin complication for people who use wheelchairs, and was scheduled to have it treated the week she passed away. Sue said the pressure ulcer was what led to the sepsis. 'It was a shock,' Sue said. 'She had been through so much before and we just assumed this would be taken care of as well. We just were stunned.' The Townsends said Anne Marie's death, along with the media attention it received, has forced them to relive the Columbine tragedy. It feels like 'we lost our youngest twice,' Rick said, given the couple's other children are all older than Anne Marie and Lauren. But they find comfort in their memories of the two women. They described Lauren as an 'old soul' and 'everybody's best friend,' who was the valedictorian of her class at Columbine and dreamed of going to college to study wildlife biology. She was also quirky, just like Anne Marie, Sue said. 'They were just fun to be around.' The Townsends say they remain determined to keep Lauren's and Anne Marie's legacies alive. They hope that sharing the story of their relationship with Anne Marie and her advocacy for people with chronic health issues will inspire others to form positive, caring connections. 'I hope this reminds people that goodness wins,' Sue said.
